Barings LLC Raises Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Barings LLC lifted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 36.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 55,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,650 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $6,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Nucor by 8,530.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,695 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after acquiring an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after acquiring an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $38,714,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Stock Up 1.4 %

Nucor stock opened at $133.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.12. The company has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.75.

Nucor Profile

Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling structural steel products; bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products; and engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses.